US Cereplast commercialises algae-based bioplastic

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Cereplast is beginning to commercialise an algae-based bioplastic, the US renewable plastics producer said on Tuesday.

Cereplast said that its Biopropylene 109D is an injection-moulding grade made partly with algae biomass.

Biopropylene 109D can be processed on existing moulding machines, and is recommended for thin-wall injection moulding applications, the company said.

“The algae biomass used by Cereplast are byproducts from algae biofuels and nutritionals, resulting from industrial processing to extract specialty chemicals,” it said.

However, Cereplast's source of algae feedstock does not rely on the commercialisation of algae-based biofuel, it added.

"Since 2008 our team has developed and extensively tested algae-filled grades of bioplastics, and more recently has perfected this specific grade which is now ready for commercialisation,” said Cereplast CEO Frederic Scheer.

“We have several customers evaluating this technology and anticipate generating revenue from it during the first half of 2013,” Scheer added.